The Root Chakra or Muladhara (the Sanskrit word translating to “root support”) is one of the 7 primary chakras, according to ancient Hindu Tantrism and the Yoruba teachings of the Andamanese (Afro-Indo Indigenous) diety, Osumare (see below). This energy center is symbolized by a lotus with four petals (the number 4 symbolizes “foundation”), and the color red, serving as our structural foundation and stability in the physical realm.

Much like a family tree, this energetic point is associated with your sense of security, familial relationships and our sense of belonging to our pack (our sense of home and connection), when energy is flowing clearly through the first chakra, you feel firmly grounded in yourself and the world around you. It is said that karmic energy resides on this energetic plane, which includes the density of generational family-trauma, passed down through our epigenetic DNA.

In essence, Muladhara determines the sensation within us that feels like we are being swallowed alive by our woes, feeling stuck, forcefully dragging an anchor of weight, or being grounded and strong, rooted in our surroundings, alert to predator and prey, able to sense what is coming and assess how to react with more confidence and clarity.

The root chakra is like the office manager, and allows us to vet potentially dangerous situations, by assessing what our body is sensing, kind of like how a snake tastes the air to sense what is near. This center is associated with the sense SMELL — so listen to your nose, it has instincts too. This may be where the phrase "something smells fishy to me" (meaning: something is off and that makes me uneasy) derives. A skill derived through the evolutionary process, thanks to our pre-lingual ancestors, who knew how to tap-in to their inner guidance systems as a means of survival. This chakra is where we energetically draw water (purification) and nutrients (information) from the Earth (our surroundings) taking in the material world around us and informing our internal energetic world. As does the root system of a tree, our physical human roots function as a natural detox point, drawing in clean energy through portals in our feet and hands, while expelling waste and transmuting ions. This point is where our kundalini energy begins, rising up the spinal column as we expand our lower consciousness and learn how to sublimate the energy into our higher consciousness.

Root Chakra Functions and Kundalini Energy

The root chakra corresponds with the pelvic plexus, which oversees our excretions, including in sexual activity. The kundalini (cerebral spinal fluid said to be coiled at the base of the spine) has to rise through the other chakral energy centers on the path, in order to awakening kundalini consciousness. It is said that Muladhara energy (our root) is the protector of the wellbeing of the Kundalini at the time of awakening. This is a key reason why it is important that we identify imbalances and heal them, in order to heighten our awakening and expand our consciousness.